Private equity firm Singularity Ventures, which is backed by veteran investor Madhusudan Kela, has appointed CaratLane cofounder and former managing director and chief executive officer, Avnish Anand, as a partner to lead consumer investments.
At Singularity, Anand will focus on building and scaling the firm’s consumer portfolio.
“Anand has an excellent understanding of the Indian consumer and a proven ability to build a consumer-centric brand like CaratLane. We have an ambitious vision for our consumer portfolio and Avnish is the perfect person to lead it,” said Yash Kela, founder of Singularity.
Singularity, which was launched in 2021, made the first close of its Fund II at Rs 500 crores. The fund has a total corpus planned of Rs 1,500 crores and a green shoe option of Rs 500 crores. It counts Self Reliant India and Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI)’s fund of funds scheme as its limited partners.
The company has also appointed former defence secretary Ajay Kumar as a senior advisor.
“Kumar’s deep understanding of policy-making, global industrial landscapes, and his ability to drive critical partnerships will guide our investments in transformative sectors such as semiconductors, defence, and electronics,” said Kela.
Kumar was involved in advancing Digital India initiatives and creating the iDEX programme to support a defence startup ecosystem.
He also held key roles in the Department of Defence Production and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
